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230 THE SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON |
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was to poke down the throat of the bird, willy nilly, balls of maize and butter. The ostrich made horrible faces at first, but when he tasted the balls, all trouble on that point was over, and the delicacies we placed before him were quickly devoured, the guavas being especially favoured.
The natural savageness of the ostrich disappeared more and more every day ; he would let us approach him without striking at us, and after some days we thought we could, without much risk, unfasten him to take a short lesson in the art of walking. We placed him between the buffalo and the bull, and put him through all the exercises of the stable—to trot, to gallop, stop short, trot again, walk, etc. I cannot say that the poor bird relished his first lesson very much, but the tobacco pipe and the whip were two admirable instructors, and when he was disposed to become unruly a whiff of tobacco would set all to rights.
At the end of the month his education was complete. The next thing to be thought of was a bit; but how could I contrive a bit for a beak ? I had remarked, however, that the absence of light had a very direct influence upon the ostrich ; he would stop short when blindfold, and could not be induced to move until his eyes were uncovered. So I |
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